I always feel like I have vomited in my mouth when I have my first spoonful of sour soups with a tomato laced acidity. This isn’t a dis. It’s just what comes to mind when I get that acidic sensation with a warm liquid hitting the back of my throat. I guess that’s why I don’t find myself tossing out an order for these with any regularity.

This is not meant to demean the pot of Po Tak ($10.95):

... that we ordered at Yukol Place:

... for dinner this evening. This chili-spiced seafood soup had generous qualities of scallop, mussels and squid with onions, mushrooms and Thai basil. We appreciated its warming properties after coming in from the cold.

The Pad Kee Maou ($8.95):

... had thick, chewy, rice noodles sauteed with shrimp, Chinese broccoli, egg, chicken and Thai basil. This was good, but could have used a spicy kick (which I bet they would accommodate if requested.)

We liked the friendly and efficient service at this cheap and cheerful Thai eatery with a serious commitment to menu ornamentation.

Head gardener, Margaret Koski-Kent and her staff have branched out into winemaking. We hope to try their first Pinot next year. The first bottlings will use grapes sourced from other growers before they get to their own pressing matters.

Oyster shells:

... are used as a calcium supplement when ground into the soil. Their enriched fruit makes a short trip to their on site processing plant:

Gigantic stone wheels do the crushing before the oil is extracted, but unlike the Willy Wonka tour, there were no ill behaved children to demonstrate any pit-ential hazards.

... which were firmer than I imagined, but still very good. The spinach Suessified this prosciutto veiled, open faced, Sam-I-am-wich. If you would not like them here or there, this isn’t the dish for you, but I would eat these green eggs and ham anywhere.

Poached eggs provided a yolky sauce for the polenta ($13.00):

... which was further enriched with a tasty combo of chicken sausage and tomato sauce. This nicely seasoned, warming bowl of breakfast was mush-tastic

Rose’s Cafe:

... is the sister restaurant of Rose Pistola (who also have their SF Ferry Building Farmer’s Market open air kitchen cooking up chow every Saturday) where you can eat your eggs and ham not in a house.

We went back to Mission Beach Cafe to get the burger that a neighboring table enjoyed when we stopped by last week. Although this Prather Ranch patty ($13.50):

... with onion marmalade, mayo and lettuce was good, the white cheddar wasn’t melty like its predecessor’s and the fries were on the limp side (unlike the ones that were crunched through by the couple last week.)

I would have changed the menu listing of “pork stew” ($7.00):

... to read “kale soup”. This dino kale-dominant dish was warming and good, but not the thick, meatier mixture that I had envisioned from it’s pigticular name.

A slice of chocolate pecan pie ($6.50):

... had the candy-like quality expected of these nutty wedges with a cocoa kick contained in a flaky crust. It was good, but it didn’t knock their pear sour cherry pie out of the lead position.

The staff was friendly, knowledgeable and efficient and we like this cozy corner pocket which is just as welcoming for a snack as for a full on meal.

From today’s Bunrab email, Kate writes about the apeeling nature of both bananas at Sol Food Restaurant:

Gutenberg,

about sol food...you can pick one of each plantain if you can not decide. i always get one of each...eat the garlicky with my meal, and eat the sweet for dessert with a little bit of the hot sauce on top...yum!

Kate

Gutenberg replies:

Dear Kate,

It never occurred to us to split up the bunch, but now we’ll have to tally our bananas differently.

I consulted with my constant dining partner and we decided that he has more success because he gravitates towards the pork with his fork and I over-think my options.

Hedonism trumps pragmatism when it comes to ordering.

-G

Mike writes about our Sol Food food:

Gutenberg,

At Sol Food, what was the brown stuff next to the cup of black beans and the chicken, that was sort of on top of the rice on the Arroz con Picadillo plate? That whole plate was sure tasty looking but I want to know the identity of the mystery substance. The plate looks like a mix of these two items on their menu. arroz con picadillo 9.95 seasoned ground beef over rice. served with beans, fresh avocado, fried plantain and organic greens. rice and chicken cooked together. served with beans, fried plantain, fresh avocado and organic greens.

Mike

Gutenberg replies:

Dear Mike,

At 12 o’clock is the bowl of black beans and going clockwise, there is a hunk of avocado peeking out before the ground beef with olives over rice, the round flat things are actually the smooshed, fried plantains (impersonating chicken) and then there is a heap of salad.

All of the combo plates at Sol Food come with a choice of 2 plantain plans - sweet fried yellow ones or green smooshed, garlicy fried discs. The most important decision a Sol Food customer has to make is which way they want to go with their banana.

Mistakes happen, and it’s easy to figure out who understands the hospitality industry by how these issues are handled. The chef graciously came out to our table with a panzanella (on the house):

... while the new bird was cooking.

We shared a salumi plate ($7.00):

... of Fra’ Mani’s sopressata, La Quercia prosciutto, and house cured coppa which we savored with our wine at our table by the toasty fireplace.

My crispy skinned, mini chicken:

... migrated back on a bed of shaved fennel salad with a yolky dandruff of modified gremolata. My “chicken tartare” joke met with a blank stare from the server, but to be fair, it wasn’t funny.

The bird was good with a moist (cooked) interior but Chubby made the superior selection of the pork panini ($9.00):

This braised pigwich had a crisp bread shell spread with broccoli pesto and filled with fennel and melty mozzarella. This savory sandwich was envy inducing.

Piccolo Teatro took the place of Patterson’s Pub and although you can still enjoy a Bridgeway burger here (like in the Patterson days) they now stage it on a plate for you with an added sur-loin charge.

Another addition of a little theatrical flare is the dramatically lit H2Ovation station:

We fortified ourselves with a couple pots of delicious Equator coffee before prying ourselves away from the fire and hitting the chilly Sausalito streets.

Both were satisfying, homey platters with rice, salad, beans and plantains. We gave the ground beef with olives a shower of their vinegar pepper sauce and mixed in some of the black beans which we scooped up with flattened, fried, banana discs.

The beef was good, but the real hit was the eggplant, zuke, mushroom, olive and onion stew. This tomato-based mixture didn’t taste as though it had been resentfully constructed as an obligatory option for non-face-eaters. Too bad this dish isn’t on their daily menu. Sweet plantains and pinto beans spackled in our remaining stomach room.

It’s often easier to get a seat here than at their smaller place up the block, but the 4th Street location has the added feature of staying open ‘til 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.